Last Sunday, I was planning on going to Hong Kong by way of LuoHu (eastern Shenzhen) to get my Visa taken care of at the Shangri-La hotel, which offers a same-day visa. I wanted to go through LuoHu because it was by train and it had a much more open schedule than the ferry did. Almost all MS folks use the ferry, but I figured I’d break a little ground and try out the train.

At the customs desk, however, the officer informed my my visa had expired. Uh oh, I’m no longer a legal resident of this country. “Come with me, please.” I was led to a little room with some other folks waiting quietly. At least I had my cell phone with me and I fired off a quick text message. After maybe 15 minutes, the officer came back and said, “Your visa is expired by 30 days, according to the laws of my country…you must pay a fine of 5000 RMB.” Oh, OK, well, that’s a decent chunk of coin (about $650). The officer then asked, “Do you want to pay?” Do I want to pay? Of course I don’t *want* to pay! I asked what my choices were:

“You may pay now and go to Hong Kong. Or you can leave and go to the police station at Di Wang.”
“What do I do at the police station?”
“You can ask them to fix your visa.”
“What about the fine?”
“Maybe there will be a fine.”
“Maybe?”
“Maybe.”
“Yes or no?”
“Maybe.”

I figured I’d take my chances at the police station. I already knew where it was, and I didn’t feel like forking over all that money, plus I needed some counsel. Well, the next morning I was at the police station. The government buildings in China are quite nice by the way, and the civil servants have a reputation for being lazy, well-paid, and corrupt. I ended up in another little room with a bitter woman who sarcastically remarked at my expired visa. When I gave her my explanation of “why” it was expired, she remarked, “Oh you’re such a smart American!” She then proceeded to give me these incredibly complex instructions. Go to this police station, register, bring the paperwork back here, wait for 5-days, come back for you 10-day Visa, go to Hong Kong… Forget it. I just said, “Sure” then left with no intention of coming back. Instead, I did the smart thing (the thing I should have done first) and went to my office to ask about what to do. Jimmy had me a little worried (“This is very serious!”) but it turns out that he had a similar problem some years ago, but with a different type of visa. What a complex system. Finally, it was decided that I should go to Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon for a Friday express visa.

Here’s how the visa got expired: I thought it was a 60-day. Nope, it was a 30-day visa, with two entries of 30 days apiece. I reckon that’s how I rationalized 60 days. Indeed it would have been 60-days had, on day 30, I’d gone to the border, crossed, turned around, and walked back into China. Jeez. 30 * 2 = 60. Of course, I was giving governments way too much credit in making the assumption that the visa system was simple. But, it’s nice and complicated.